Doctors in Thailand and other third world countries are using a new, low-budget method to prevent cervical cancer. By highlighting precancerous spots on a woman’s cervix with a brush of vinegar and then freezing off the spots with a cooled metal probe, doctors are able to circumvent the lab work and waiting period a traditional Pap smear entails. Once the top cancerous killer of American women, 85 percent of cervical cancer’s victims now reside in developing and middle-income countries. The World Health Organization is promoting the freezing method, which is 90 percent effective, in hopes of diminishing the reach of cervical cancer in the third world.
Read it at New York Times
